We've caught the swapping bug! Sustainable Bury launches its first Swap Shop

L-R: Pippa, Fiona & me: Some of the founding members of Sustainable Bury, at our very first Swap Shop. Photo credit: Sandy Jackson. 

I've been to several 'Swap shops' or 'Give & Take' days organised by Transition Town groups around Suffolk. the last one being being held by Sustainable Bungay in September.  I must confess that when I left that event, I was both quite jealous that Bury St Edmunds didn't have such an occasion to get the good town-folk out swapping, but also very much inspired to do something about it.

After all, in Bungay, what I witnessed was not just a great way of motivating people to declutter their unwanted items and let someone else take them home for free, but there was also a fantastic vibrant community spirit.  

Now left to my own devices, that inspiration might have remained a pipe dream due to competing priorities.  However, my visit to Bungay coincided with the gathering of like-minded folk in Bury St Edmunds - mainly in a pub - to organise a new Transition Town community group called Sustainable Bury.  As we were planning our events, I mentioned how much I'd love to bring the Swap Shop idea under our umbrella.  All it took was someone to suggest enthusiastically that we should run one just after Christmas and Bob's your uncle, the first community event for Sustainable Bury was born!  Such is the power of team-work.

The posters went up, leaflets were distributed and we received some great mentions on Radio Suffolk and excellent coverage in the Bury Free Press, but it was still quite nerve-wracking yesterday morning as we got ready for our 'big event'.  Would the good folk of Bury St Edmunds turn up?

Setting out the tables at the St John's Centre.

Thankfully, yes they did!

Including Kim, one of Bury St Edmunds' entertainment organisers.  I never did find out whether she took those funky specs home, but I really hope she did!

The idea was that people could drop off items that they no longer wanted and take anything away that they wished, for free!  If they didn't have anything to bring, they could simply leave a donation at their discretion.  Any items that were left, we simply pledged to donate them to the charity shops, dotted along St John's Street.

As with any Reuse event, the swap shop featured a real eclectic range of stuff.  I loved these little Saki cups.

And this unopened Body Shop gift pack was certainly a great find for its new owner.

As was this Past Times tea cosy. proclaiming "Where there's tea there's hope"!  That might become my new mantra.

I'm really pleased that for our first event we had around 30 people, perhaps even more.  To be honest, we were so busy listening to all the great feedback from the visitors who dropped by that it was really tricky to keep count.   In fact, the feedback that we received was so encouraging, we have decided to bring forward plans for our next Swap Shop, which we will now run in April.

I'm now looking forward to the Swap Shop becoming a regular event that supports the Reuse infrastructure in Suffolk, in a way that is truly fun and brings the community together.   For those who struggle to get stuff into town, it would also be wonderful for satellite events to be hosted by community centres and schools in the the surrounding estates and villages and I would certainly be happy to help get those rolling.

However, Sustainable Bury is not just about encouraging reuse and reducing waste, there are other great plans on the cards too.  There is a real wealth of ideas coming through, so if you have time, do check out this great piece by the Bury Free Press from yesterday's event, which also features a video of our members, sharing some thoughts about what they'd love the group to achieve.

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Sustainable Bury really is in its infancy, so while we wait for its website/blog to be created, more information can be found at the Facebook page or by following @SustainableBury on Twitter.   If you are local to Bury St Edmunds and would like to get involved,  please do get in touch via Facebook/Twitter, email me or alternatively leave a note below and I will be pleased to pass on your details to the team.  The next planning meeting is this Tuesday, 15 January, 7.30pm at the Fox Inn, in Eastgate Street.  All are welcome.

More information about Transition Towns can be found at www.transitionnetwork.org.

A Rubbish Surprise in Felixstowe

Well look who I bumped into today on a family visit to Felixstowe.

We'd just started walking along the promenade and no sooner had we arrived but I spotted my friend Fran Crowe, a Suffolk artist who was setting up her exhibition in one of the beach huts on the sea front.

I met Fran last year after going to see her exhibition Walking to save some sea and interviewed her for the blog a few months later. Since then, we've met up on several occasions for some rubbish chats, so it was really good to bump into her today.

Her mini-exhibition in the beach hut is called Cast Away and is part of Felixstowe's Felixstroll event, which uses the concept of art to encourage residents and visitors to rediscover the coastline while admiring the artwork and taking part in events as they stroll between Languard Point and Felixstowe Ferry.

The aim of Fran's work is to highlight the issue of litter that finds its way onto the beach, inviting visitors to take direct action during their walk and help keep the beaches clean. She is encouraging people to pick up litter that they find and add them to a rainbow picture and other images that she is creating in the small area in front of the beach hut. If people don't want to part with their findings, they can package them up and take them home as a souvenir of Felixstowe. There are also alternative souvenirs available at the beach hut.

Following Fran's advice we decided to take part in the Felixstroll event and walked three miles along the coast to Felixstowe Ferry, discovering places that we'd never visited before in our six years in Suffolk. It's given a whole new insight into what the resort has to offer, passing beautiful scenery along the way.

When we arrived at the more rural setting of Felixstowe Ferry, I couldn't resist dropping in at The Caravan Gallery, which is a travelling photographic exhibition, all neatly packed into .... a caravan...! It's most definitely a portrait of Great Britain with a difference, totally perceptive and thoroughly entertaining and was well worth the walk.

However, after a three mile stretch that took as almost as many hours at a childlike pace, we couldn't face the walk back so hopped on the free shuttle bus back into town, where we dropped off an item of beach rubbish into Fran's evolving exhibition.

The piece of "rubbish"we found is the multi-coloured item that you see us holding in the photo, a peculiar looking thing that possibly resembles a lost dog-toy, which was made out of an old juggling ball and old pieces of fabric.

Somehow, I think Fran might have a good use for it instead of it floating out to sea when the tide comes in.

The Felixstroll was a real fun event, which continues over the weekend. If you're in the vicinity tomorrow, it's well worth popping into the resort for a stroll along the promenade with a difference. Just remember to say hello to Fran. For now, I'll leave you with some of the other sights we spotted today.

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For more information about Fran's excellent work, which can't help but get you thinking about human impact on the environment, visit www.flyintheface.com.

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Updated with extra photos 4/7/09